BJP chief Nadda on Bengal visit: Modi’s govt is honest and Mamata Banerjee’s corrupt

Attacking the state government over corruption, Nadda said, “When I was an MLA, my BDO used to inform me that one person’s name used to come up as a beneficiary of the Awas Yojana in two panchayat areas. Today under Modi’s government, 3 crore 60 lakh people have received houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.”

“In fact, there is corruption in the MGNREGA funds too. What kind of Bengal have you created, Didi? Modi sends money and it gets siphoned off and when the Centre sends an inquiry team, you (Banerjee) say that the Centre treats you like an enemy. You all just have to do one thing: vote for the BJP. These thieves will be identified and sent to jail too,” he said.

Addressing the public meeting at Distt. Nadia in Kolkata, West Bengal. https://t.co/wfNrE4VyFW

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 19, 2023

“Modi sarkar imandaron ki sarkar, Didi apki sarkar baimano ki sarkar (Modi’s government is an honest government while the state government is a corrupt one),” he added.

Nadda arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday night. The main aim of his visit is to strengthen the saffron party in the Lok Sabha constituencies and prepare it for the upcoming panchayat polls.

He also referred to the controversy over Justice Rajshekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court. “If the judiciary feels or a judge says that Suvendu Adhikari is being harassed, TMC workers protest and start raising their voice against the judiciary,” he said.

After Justice Mantha gave Adhikari, the Opposition leader, protection from prosecution without the court’s permission, a section of the state’s empanelled lawyers had boycotted him.

Speaking about India’s economic growth, Nadda said, “India was at number 10. Despite the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has overtaken a nation that ruled us for about two centuries. India has now become the fifth largest economy in the world. We pipped even Japan and have become the third-largest automobile market in the world.”

Nadda also advised Banerjee not to “get angry”. “Didi gets very angry. Once I was there with her in a programme, I told Didi not to get angry. I pray to God: may good sense prevail. Didi ato raag koro na, swasth er jonno bhalo na (Didi, do not get this angry, it is not good for your health).

The BJP chief also appreciated the prime minister’s efforts to fight Covid. “When the whole world is fighting the pandemic, India has been seeing peace thanks to the protection it got through the efficient and most successful vaccination drive carried out under the leadership of PM Modi-ji,” he said.

TMC calls Suvendu Adhikari ‘most corrupt politician’

The TMC has hit back at the saffron party, saying that Adhikari is walking free despite being the most corrupt politician because “he joined the BJP washing machine” .

“Before making lofty claims, BJP president J P Nadda should look to his left and see the face of the person with whom he shared the stage today. The person is none other than the most corrupt leader, Suvendu Adhikari. Aren’t we all aware of Suvendu’s crimes?” the ruling party said in a statement. “He should first surrender and admit to his involvement in multi-crore rupee scams like Narada and Saradha. The main accused in the Saradha scam, Sudipto Sen, told police he had paid crores in bribes to Suvendu. Yet Suvendu walks free because he joined the BJP washing machine”.

“There have been scores of BJP leaders’ names on the PMAY list. The MGNREGA money due to the state government is yet to be paid. The BJP talks about corruption; but their own leaders — Sushant Shit, panchayat pradhan of Jagdalla —are involved in corruption. Despite owning a large house, his father Bhaskar Shit has his name in the list of PMAY beneficiaries,” the party said.

The TMC further alleged that a BJP panchayat member in Helencha even pressured Asha and Anganwadi workers to add the names of his family members to the list of PMAY beneficiaries. “In Purba Medinipur, which is where Suvendu Adhikari belongs to, of the 3,02,597 names, 1,25,388 names were deleted. This amounts to around 41.43 per cent of the names, the highest across the districts in Bengal. Back in 2018, who was the leader of Purba Medinipur? Who were the MPs of that region? Who fixed the panchayat pradhan of that region?” the statement said.